CHICAGO — For the third straight year the Michigan Wolverines advance to the Big Ten Tournament Championship game after they beat Minnesota 76-49 in the Semifinal matchup Saturday.
Jordan Poole matched Minnesota in points that got his team going early with 6 points with the lead for Michigan 11-6 four minutes into the game. After a head to head battle the Gophers crawled their way back to tie the game at 13.
Into the under eight media timeout Michigan took off on a 9-2 run and the lead 22-15 shooting 56 percent from the field. Minnesota struggled in the first half, 1-6 from the free-throw line, they shot 9 of 27 from the floor, and 0-5 from three. That led to a 19-4 run for Michigan to end the first half red hot as they shot 57 percent from the field.
The Wolverines pushed the lead to 26 points in the first seven minutes of the second half. They shot 61 percent from the field and knocked down three triples during that period.
Michigan took a 35-point lead and was unconscious from beyond the arc. They knocked down 6 threes like dropping a pebble in the ocean.
At that point Coach John Beilein wanted to rest his starters for Sunday’s Big Ten Championship game. Michigan won 76-49 in convincing fashion. Isaiah Livers led all scorers with 21 points and 3 rebounds, teammate Zavier Simpson added 15 points and 9 assists for Michigan.
Amir Coffey had 14 points and 4 rebounds for Minnesota.
Michigan advances to Sunday’s Big Ten Championship game at 2:30pm CT.